Evidence which is identified and collected at crime scenes must be painstakingly preserved and accounted for. It is necessary to photograph each item of evidence as it appears at the crime scene, without moving or damaging the evidence, so that the evidence and crime scene are preserved.
It is common to place numbers, letters, or other indicia beside articles of evidence, so that each article of evidence can be identified by sequential systems, such as numbers or letters. However, the size of the object is not apparent without more. It is also common to place an object of known size, such as a coin, adjacent to the object, or to place a ruler next to the object, so that a sense of scale is observed from viewing the photograph.
It is important that the evidence is not inadvertently moved or trampled under foot. Improperly handling of evidence may render critical evidence inadmissible in court.
It is desirable to have evidence markers which are lighted so that they can be seen easily at night. It is also desirable to have evidence markers with sequential indicia on all sides thereof for easy viewing. It is further desirable to have evidence markers having a scale thereon, which will appear in pictures of the evidence.